'It's just like a parlour game'
Keeping the show family friendly is the secret of its success, says executive producer Tim Key
BBC
- Caroline Frost
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This Christmas, viewers will meet the newest arrival to Saint Marie, DI Mervin Wilson. The British detective just happens to be holidaying on the island – where it transpires that to be dressed as Santa Claus is more perilous than simply enduring a false beard in the Caribbean heat. Recruited to solve the crime, Wilson is carrying his own burden – a storyline that will continue to be unwrapped in the new series.
Death in Paradise executive producer Tim Key is delighted by Ralf Little’s replacement, Don Gilet – an actor familiar from shows including EastEnders, Holby City and 55 Degrees North – who becomes the show’s fifth lead detective: “He’s an amazing actor. He’s funny but he also has an emotional storyline. It feels as though he was born to lead our show. From day one, it felt like he’d been there for ever. We’re lucky to have him.”
Don Gilet as DI Mervin Wilson. BBC/Red Planet Pictures/Lou Denim
Regarding the regular changing of the guard when it comes to Saint Marie’s hardest-working detective, Key shares that there is a delicate balance to be struck in keeping viewers happy: “It never gets any easier. When we replaced Ben Miller with Kris Marshall, we didn’t know if the show could survive such a change. But it survived and thrived. The challenge with a show like ours is to give the audience what they want and what they expect, but also keep it fresh.” He laughs. “Make it the same, but different.”
You have to learn into what a Caribbean Christmas is
Tim Key, Producer
Gilet’s first feature-length episode was the festive one, filmed in April 2024, right at the beginning of production on the new series. “You have to lean into what a Caribbean Christmas is – everyone on the beach,” says Key. “There’s no dressing up to be done, it’s far too hot.”
Key is in fact the producer at the helm of the whole “Paraverse” – which encompasses Death in Paradise, as well as Kris Marshall’s Beyond Paradise and now the Australian iteration, Return to Paradise, starring Anna Samson. And while filming festive episodes for Death in Paradise saw sweltering Santas, the UK spin-off Beyond Paradise was a little easier, he reveals.
Mackenzie Clark (Anna Samson) in Return to Paradise Red Planet / BBC Studios / John Platt
“We filmed the Beyond Paradise Christmas special in November 2023, which made it quite easy as it was cold and dark. The crew didn’t have to be told – they brought the atmosphere, with festive jumpers and teenyboppers.”
For the success of all three shows, Key credits “the escapist element, plus we’re operating in a traditional, much-loved genre. People want a bit of comedy, a puzzle and a satisfying conclusion.”
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And a love of crime at Christmas? Key has a theory: “The cynical side of me says it’s cathartic for families who’ve spent too much time together, and are feeling like killing each other.But I prefer to think it provides family entertainment, solving a mystery on the TV – it’s just like playing a parlour game.”
Authors
Caroline Frost
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